


Free falling

by NYWCgirl



Category: White Collar
Genre: Alternate Universe, Escape, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-03
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2018-07-19 21:01:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7377232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NYWCgirl/pseuds/NYWCgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Neal was hurt in Prison in ‘Free fall’?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Free falling

**Author's Note:**

> The fic fills the ‘fighting’ square on my H/C bingo card. Alternate universe for S01E07 ‘Free fall’

“I need money.” “Why?” Mozzie can’t contain his excitement. He is ecstatic to hear that Neal is back planning, this can only be an escape, just like the good old days.

“I want you to buy a bakery.” “Consider it done.” Mozzie gets up and leaves the prison.

Neal is lead back to his cell and he checks out the bag with paper snippets. He sighs, this is going to be a tedious job, but it is better than doing nothing and bore to death in his cell.

When dinner is served, Neal and the rest of the men are ordered out of their cells and lined up to go towards the prison mess. There is a small altercation when one of the prisoners comes to close to Neal and is pulled back by one of the guards. Warnings are shout and everybody shows that they don´t mean any harm. The guards start walking and all the men walk in line.

Once in the mess, they cue for their food and without any warning, Neal gets a push and stumbles forward toward the counter. He turns to face his assailant and before the other man can get another hit in, Neal hits him across the face. It is enough to stun the guy for a moment and the guards to step in and break the fight up with a couple of well-aimed hits of their batons. The whole attack only took a couple of minutes. Two guards drag the other guy away and Neal is restrained by two other guards. His hands are cuffed behind his back.

“Hey, are you OK?” One of the guards flicks his fingers in front of Neal´s face.

Of course he is OK, he got a shove, nothing serious. “I´m fine.” Leaves his mouth.

There is a dripping sound and Neal looks down to see what it is. Only to see that it is blood, and there is already a small pool forming on the floor.

“Shit, Marc, he is bleeding.”

Neal looks back up to the guard and the guard grabs his waist, because it is obvious Neal isn´t going to walk to the infirmary.

“I’m fine.” Neal repeats, but it is obvious that nobody believes him. Another guard applies pressure to the wound and Neal cries out. Everything greys out for a moment and he has to grab a hold of the guard in front of him.

 

* * *

 

Peter is informed as Neal´s medical proxy that he was injured in a fight, but that he is fine and already back in his cell. The arraignment can proceed as planned. He is not allowed to visit Neal in prison but as the arraignment is in two days, Peter realizes he just has to be patient. If Neal is not in the infirmary, it must be nothing serious.

 

* * *

Mozzie brings Neal one of his designer costumes to prepare for the trip to court. The moment he puts his arms through the sleeves he winces but it is just a sort of stitch in his back. He needs to concentrate on the coming events.

“You OK?”

Neal ignores Mozzie´s question.

“Bakery?”

“Done.”

“Construction?”

“Finished.”

While they are still in prison, they can´t talk freely, so they need to keep their conversation as short as possible. “How's the air-conditioning in the judge's office?”

“Hmm, broke down this morning.” “All right. Let's go to court.”  


* * *

 

Peter walks in front of the court house and calls out to El. She is happy to see him and walks towards her husband.

“So, uh, are you sure Neal did this?”

“Yeah. I am. Of course, he says he was framed.”

“Maybe he was.” “Ah, I wish it was true.”

Lauren walks up to them.

“What's up?” Peter knows something is wrong if Lauren came to see him.

“The arraignment's been moved.”

This can´t be good. What is wrong? Maybe Neal was in worse shape than they said in prison. “Why?”

“Neal said he's gonna confess.”

OK, this can´t be good at all. Neal would never do that. Something is wrong. “Neal never confesses.” “Yeah, he said some important people were gonna be named, and he won't do it in an open court, so they moved the proceedings.” “Where?”

“Judge's chambers around the corner.” Peter turns towards El “Honey, I'll call you later, okay?” he turns towards Lauren “Get a hold of Hughes.” Peter walks towards the judge´s office.

 

* * *

 

Neal is lead into the judge´s office and can see the man sweating like a pig. Everything is going according to plan.

“Bailiff, would you open a window? Oh, the heat is stifling in here. Unfortunately, the air-conditioning is not working today.”

The bailiff opens the window and waits for instructions. “Thank you. Please, wait outside.”

“Per your request, mister Caffrey, the chambers have been cleared.” “Thank you, your honor.” “In accordance with that agreement, you are now prepared to give a full confession?”

“I am, your honor. I'll admit I've done a lot of things in my life that I'm not proud of. … No… No, that's not true…I'm proud of most of them. But what I'm about to do today this is gonna be good.

 

* * *  


Peter walks into the street and addresses the clerk that is standing outside having a smoke.

“Judge Hickman's office?”

“Fourth floor.”

He thanks the man and that is when something catches his eye.

A shiny new awning stating the opening of the Greatest Cake. Bakery. That son of a bitch bought that bakery. Neal must be planning something, but what?  


* * *

“I confess that I did not steal the diamond necklace from la Joyau Prieux.” Neal states formal. “I cleared these chambers because you claimed to have sensitive information vital to this case. If you didn't steal the diamond, then who did?”

“I'll let you know.”

Neal winks at the judges, clears his chair and jumps into the open window. He can feel the adrenaline pumping through his system. They moment he looks down on the awning, there is a moment of doubt, but he pushes it away. He can trust Mozzie to make the necessary alterations and he has never let him down. So Neal takes the leap.

“Bailiff!” He hears the judge shout behind him.

As calculated, he lands on the awning. But when he grabs the side to jump off, a pain shoots through him and takes his breath away. But he can´t stay here now, he needs to get away, Marshalls will be here any moment. The moment he lets himself slide of the canopy he loses his grip and drops down on the sidewalk. He is stunned for a moment and when he looks up, he looks right into the face of Peter, who looks confused and amazed at the same time. He tries to get up but the pain rips through him. Peter is already running towards him. He gets to his knees struggles to get at least one foot under him and then reaches into his inner strength and staggers up and starts running towards the van.

Before Peter can reach the van, it speeds away. Peter studies the street, looking at the lid of the sewer. He is not in the van. But Neal is hurt. That much was obvious. There was nothing graceful in his escape and pain was etched in his face. He needs to find Neal, he needs a doctor. But first he had to put Fowler on a wild goose chase.

 

* * *

 

Elizabeth is discussing the wedding plans with her new customer while they walk to the restaurant where the festivities will be held.

“This is Yvonne. It's for you.” Elizabeth looks at Yvonne in surprise. “On your personal phone? Burke premiere events. This is Elizabeth.” “ _Sorry to bother you at work_.” A voice slurs. “Neal? Uh, I'll catch up with you guys. How'd you get this number? Stupid question. You know, there's half the law enforcement in North America looking for you right now, including my husband.” “ _He'll find me soon enough_.” Neal´s voice sound tired.

There is a silence and Elizabeth gets worried. She is just about to ask if he is alright. “ _I need your help_.” Neal whispers.

“Are you alright?” She asks.

“ _I guess not.”_

 

* * *

 

It is already late when Peter enters his home. He finally got Fowler to go after the bogus trail he put out.

“Still haven't found Neal. We got a detail outside.” “Yeah, I saw. As if he'd be careless enough to come here.” Elizabeth states with a bit of a guilty look. Peter picks up on it immediately. “Where do you think he did go, El? Is he in the kitchen? Neal!”

When he doesn´t get a response, he looks back to Elizabeth. “He was hurt, wasn´t he?”

Elizabeth opens the door to the kitchen and there is Neal, he is lying on the floor, there is blood but by the looks of it, Elizabeth managed to bandage the wound. His eyes are closed, but he is breathing deep and regular. “You helped him sneak in.” “Well, I wouldn't have had to sneak him in if there weren't those people sitting at our house.” “You lied to the FBI.” Peter accuses while he tries to rouse Neal. “Honey, I did not lie to the FBI. There was just a lot of milk and cookies and pleasant, distracting conversation while Neal slipped around the back.”

“He needs medical attention, El.”

“I realize that Peter, but I couldn´t leave him out on the street, bleeding, could I?”

“Of course not, you did the right thing.” Peter finally is able to rouse Neal.

“Wht Hppnd?” He whispers.

“You got hurt. I guess three days ago in prison and you worsened your condition when you did that swan dive out of the judge´s office. What possessed you Neal?”

Neal just gives a small smile.

“Call June, her personal physician will help.”

El is already on the phone and Peter places his hand on Neal´s shoulder.

“It will be alright Neal, we´ll figure it out. Somehow.”


End file.
